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Making the ‘Nova Knicks: How Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges brought championship pedigree from NCAA to NBA Finals originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Knicks’ path to the NBA Finals seemingly began in 2021, when they turned a season with zero expectations into the return of playoff basketball and a revival of Madison Square Garden.
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The actual start of the Knicks’ dream run to the Finals came all the way back in the mid-2010s, when Jay Wright and his staff pieced together a roster that would bring championship glory not once, but twice, to the Catholic university west of Philadelphia.
The foundation was set long before Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges or even Josh Hart arrived at Villanova. The Wildcats reached the Elite Eight in 2006 and Final Four in 2009, setting a new standard after the program teetered in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Ryan Arcidiacono, Daniel Ochefu, Phil Booth and, of course, Kris Jenkins, all played pivotal roles on the Villanova team that climbed the mountaintop and won a national championship in 2016, but it’s likely no coincidence that the program got over the hump just as the same players who are now knocking on the door of an NBA championship were settling into their roles with the Wildcats.
“There was a unique bond. They came in and turned it,” former Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune, then an assistant, told Sporting News. “They truly liked each other. These guys were really close. These guys had real relationships.”
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Those relationships weren’t made overnight. Hart joked Tuesday that he “hated” Brunson and Bridges when they joined the program, telling reporters that he thought Brunson “was one of those annoying 5-star recruits.” As it turned out, Bridges and Hart would be essential to one another as they developed into stars.
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Publish date : 2026-06-03 16:45:00
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